Ohio Police Department Launches New Set of Trading Cards for Local Children

The Monroe Police Department is handing out cop cards that feature various officers from their department, which is located near Middleton, Ohio.  The department ordered 40 sets of cop cards, 1,000 cards per set, that feature colored photos on the front of the cards of its police and auxiliary officers, a couple of dispatchers and police chaplains.

Officer Eric Walton, the coordinator of the program, told a reporter from The Middletown Journal, "(The cards) help us have a better working relationship so kids won't be afraid to approach us. It's to let them know we're here to help them; if they need a police officer we're here to be their friends."

The back of the card, which are the same design as baseball cards, features officer biographies and safety messages. The trading card program is directed at boys and girls between the ages of 6 - 12.

Each officer handed out 1,000 cards to kick off the initive Tuesday. Any child that approaches an officer, whether they're on patrol or at headquarters, will be given a card, Walton said.

One child that collects all 40 cards by April 7 will receive a $100 gift certificate to Toys R Us, he said.

The program is not new to the department, which also handed out cop cards in 1998 and 2001, he said.

"The other two times we did this program it was such a success that I can remember that there were officers that handed out all their cards within a month. The kids were loving them," Walton said.